


It's a Magical Place

by Rednight_Hunter



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, F/M, Inhuman!Ward, TAHITI!Ward, Ward is Jesse Clayton
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-23 23:20:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7483953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rednight_Hunter/pseuds/Rednight_Hunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jesse knew he should have left long ago. Dr. Simmons and her male companion were distracted in their argument, leaving the coast clear for Jesse to make his way out of the compound to safety. He was being incredibly stupid for waiting against the wall. But this Ward person Simmons and her companion were speaking of peaked something in Jesse. He felt a pull, an attraction to the name. Whoever this ‘Ward’ was, he was important to Jesse. He had to know more.</p><p>Or the one where Ward has his mind wiped with T.A.H.I.T.I. and everything is fine, until 'Jesse Clayton' has a bad reaction to a fish oil capsule.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Jesse Clayton woke up in a cell.

 

At least it was the best looking cell he’d ever seen, Jesse thought. He was lying in a comfortable king sized bed, wearing a white hospital gown. The walls of the room were also white, forming hexagonal panels in a repeating pattern. A giant television screen lined one wall, with a white couch along another.

 

 _‘Someone here really likes the colour white’_.

 

Jesse gradually climbed out of the bed, wincing as his ribs screamed in pain. Looking down the neck of his gown, Jesse could see bandages wrapped around his torso. Further inspecting himself, Jesse found another bandage wrapped around his left shoulder, and a dressing on the inside of his right thigh. ‘ _How did this happen_?’ In the corner of the room was a window into a smaller room, in which was one of the two doors out of the room.

 

Looking around, Jesse tried the second door, on the far wall. ‘ _Locked. Figures._ ’

 

The sound of the door from the isolated room opening made Jesse startle. Turning around, he came face to face with a rather beautiful woman with hair cut barely above shoulder height, in a white lab coat standing behind the glass window.

 

“Mr… Clayton. My name is Dr. Simmons. I’m sorry to inform you that-”

 

“Look, Doctor. You have the wrong guy. I’m just an accountant living by myself.” Jesse cut off the woman before she could continue. “I’ve never hurt anyone, never done anything shady. You can look at my record, please. I’m innocent.”

 

Dr. Simmons pursed her lips, before speaking again, her British accent taking a much colder tone. “War- Jesse. You will listen to what I have to say, and you will do what I tell you to do, because as much as I hate to admit it, I have your best interests at heart. You were exposed to a chemical event, to which your body is having a generally unprecedented physiological response.”

 

“A chemical event? I don-”

 

“The safest thing you can do for yourself and everyone else is stay here in this room, Mr. Clayton,” Dr. Simmons’ continued without sympathy, “before you get _someone else_ hurt.” Without further ado, the woman turned heel and strode from the room, the door sliding shut behind her.

 

‘ _Well wasn’t she just a ray of sunshine_?’

 

...........................................................................................

 

The next of Jesse’s visitors could not have been any more unlike Dr. Simmons if he had tried. The hulking beast of a man with dark skin immediately made Jesse sit up as straight as he could from the glare he received.

 

“Um, sir? Could you tell me what’s going on, please?”

  
The man ignored what Jesse said, instead putting down the tray he had been carrying. On it was what Jesse assumed was his dinner, or lunch (what time of the day was it even?), in the form of a bread roll, three sticks of carrot and a small cut of what Jesse thought was beef. Without sparing Jesse a glance, the man left the room, once again leaving Jesse alone.

 

‘ _What is with these people?_ ’ Jesse wondered as he looked down at his small meal. As rude as the doctor who had talked to him had been, at least she had bothered to talk to him. Jesse resigned himself to getting no answers anytime soon as he sat down to eat his meal. Noticing that his bread roll was already cut in half (which given the lack of cutlery, was quite the pleasant surprise), he opened it to put a bit of his beef into it.

 

Only, it wasn’t bread he found inside his roll.

 

The inside of the roll had been cut out, with a small wallet and a piece of paper resting inside. Opening the paper first, Jesse’s eyebrows inadvertently rose.

 

_Wait till the lights go out and the door opens. Turn left, and then take the next left again. From there, go through the third door on the right. Meet at Fenway Park, Boston. – M_

 

Escape instructions? Was the tall man from earlier trying to help Jesse get out of this place? Or had someone else placed the note in the bread roll? Moving to the wallet, Jesse found a $100 bill and a bus ticket direct to Boston port authority. He also happened upon a keycard with an eagle logo on it. Provided he could escape the compound, Jesse held the necessary resources to make it to the meeting point.

 

...........................................................................................

 

After what felt like hours later, the room went black.

 

Jesse internally panicked, having not anticipated not being able to see at all. How would he escape the compound without being able to see a thing? A moment later, however, backup generators powered up, and Jesse was able to see the dim surroundings of his room. Looking over, the door that the man had walked through earlier was now open, with no one seeming to be on their way in. Remembering the instructions left on the note, Jesse turned left from the door, and dashed down the corridor before turning left again. Ahead of him was a much wider corridor, with one of the side walls adorned with tinted glass. He noticed immediately that the lighting was normal in this area of the compound, meaning that whoever had cut the power had done so only in his cell block.

 

‘ _Good. That means there’s a chance they don’t know that I’ve escaped my room_.’

 

Walking down the corridor, Jesse panicked as he saw shadows move on the other side of the glass. Realising that if he could see movement in the room inside, whoever was inside could probably see him, Jesse ducked down to take cover behind the wooden walls that lined the bottom section of the glass wall. Waiting there for a moment, Jesse allowed his breathing to slow, and made sure that whoever was on the other side of the wall had not seen him.

 

Jesse looked around, and counted the doors on the opposite wall. The third door down, the one specified on the note, was a large set of metallic yellow double doors. Not seeing any way to open said doors, Jesse eventually noticed a keycard slot on the left of the doors. ‘ _Must be what the keycard in the wallet was for_.’ Still crouching, Jesse stuck to the wooden wall as he moved down the hallway, until he was facing opposite the door. But before he could make the dash across the corridor, the sound of voices from the other side of the glass wall found his ears. More specifically, the British accent of Dr. Simmons.

 

“… just don’t see why we are keeping him here. Too many times we have let Ward live, and each time we have paid for that mistake. Poor Bobbi is still in physical therapy from when she was taken by him.”

 

“Ward is a bad person, yes.” The opposing voice that rang out from the room was that of a Scottish male. “But that person down there is not him. We’ve given Ward another chance, because of what he did for Daisy.”

 

“But one good deed does not outweigh everything else that monster has done to the world. To us.”

 

Jesse knew he should have left long ago. Dr. Simmons and her male companion were distracted in their argument, leaving the coast clear for Jesse to make his way out of the compound to safety. He was being incredibly stupid for waiting against the wall. But this Ward person Simmons and her companion were speaking of peaked something in Jesse. He felt a pull, an attraction to the name. Whoever this ‘Ward’ was, he was important to Jesse. He had to know more.

 

“… of course when we finally thought we were done with the bastard, he comes back in the least expected way.” Simmons had begun talking again, ripping Jesse out of his thoughts. “Of course Grant Ward, on top of everything else, is an inhuman.”

 

“You know what has to happen, right Simmons?”

 

“Of course I do, Fitz. Daisy can never learn that he’s back. That he has powers like her. Her people would never understand why S.H.I.E.L.D. is keeping him. They don’t know what he’s capable of.” As far as Jesse understood, S.H.I.E.L.D. had long been disbanded, so to here that they were keeping Grant Ward prisoner was a definite curveball he had not anticipated. “To them, they would just see it as S.H.I.E.L.D. holding an inhuman against his will.”

 

Who was Daisy? And what did Simmons and her partner, Fitz, mean by the term inhuman. It had been mentioned several times in their conversation, with Jesse having no idea what it meant.

 

Suddenly, a door Jesse had not noticed, set into the same wall he was crouched against, opened, with Dr. Simmons and who Jesse assumed to be Fitz walking out of it. Like a cheesy action flick, the world around Jesse seemed to slow down as first Fitz, then Dr. Simmons noticed him, crouching like a duck out of water, directly in front of him. While Fitz froze, hands clenching around the tablet he was holding, Dr. Simmons quickly drew a handgun from her side and faced it at Jesse.

 

“Freeze! How did you get out of your room?!” Dr. Simmons yelled as she levelled the gun directly at Jesse’s head. “Put your hands on your head and turn around.” Reluctantly, Jesse did as she asked, his heart pounding in his chest. His felt his breathing accelerate and a strange butterfly feeling appear in his chest as he raised his arms.

 

And then all hell broke loose.

 

As soon as Jesse’s arms rose in the air, a tingling sensation ran through them, and a spark of electricity arced through the air, striking a light on the roof. As sparks rained down around them, memories flashed before Jesse’s eyes.

 

The fish oil capsules, and then the rock creeping up his arms and legs, closing in around him, can’t see, can’t breathe-!

 

“ _You were exposed to a chemical event, to which your body is having a generally unprecedented physiological response_.” Dr. Simmons’ previous words rang out as Jesse relived the memories he had forgotten until now. Jesse remembered the thunderclouds, the rain and wind tearing at his skin. The bolt of lightning coming down and then nothing.

 

 Suddenly, two gunshots rang out, tearing Jesse out of his thoughts as Fitz and Dr. Simmons dropped to the floor, unmoving.

 

“Wha-” Behind the bodies of Dr. Simmons and Fitz was the dark skinned man who had dropped the food off in Jesse’s cell earlier, holding the gun he had evidently used to shoot the two individuals on the ground. He glared at Jesse as he tucked the gun back into the holster.

 

“What the hell are you still doing here? You were meant to be gone ages ago!”

 

“Y-you just shot them. You killed those two people. Why?”

 

The man closed his eyes in annoyance and muttered something quietly to himself. “They’re not dead, Clayton. This thing’s called an I.C.E.R. It just knocked them out cold for a little while. You need to get out of here.”

 

Relieved, Jesse allowed himself to process the scene around him. “Who are you?” He asked, looking down at the unconscious bodies of Dr. Simmons and Fitz, and then to Fitz’s tablet, which had landed in between the two and Jesse.

 

“The name’s Mack. I work here, but I have a friend on the outside who wanted to talk to you. And I put my friends ahead of my job. Now as I was saying, you need to get the hell out of here, okay?”

 

But Jesse wasn’t listening.

 

He was looking at the screen of Fitz’s tablet, which still lay open on the floor.

 

He was looking at a picture of himself, but it wasn’t him.

 

He was looking at the name below the picture.

 

Grant Ward.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The length of the journey had given Jesse time to compile a mental list of all the information he knew, and he either didn’t know or what was being kept from him.
> 
> 1\. Grant Ward had his face, or at least a face that was similar to his.
> 
> 2\. Grant Ward was, according to Simmons, inhuman (whatever that meant).
> 
> 3\. Although a ‘bad’ person, Ward did something good for Daisy (Quake), but she cannot know that he’s apparently back,
> 
> 4\. Skye knew more information about Ward, which she deemed that he didn’t need to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Not sure if I'll be able to keep up with a daily update schedule, as I'm still partway through writing chapter 3 at this point. Thanks so much for the kind words about last chapter, they've made me write much faster!

The heat of a Sunday morning shone down on Fenway Park, as people, locals and tourists alike, bustled about with their business. With no baseball match occurring, the park itself was relatively empty, with most of the people being only present in passing. From his spot sitting on a park bench, Jesse could see a family of four posing in front of the stadium with one of those ridiculous selfie sticks, a business woman tapping away at her laptop on another bench, and a man selling balloon animals to little kids.

 

All of whom had a purpose in life. Jesse himself felt afloat, unsure of where to go next. He couldn’t return to his old life as a boring accountant, especially with him becoming a human lightningrod at the slightest agitation. And then there was the elephant in the room. Grant for a great deal of drama that affected Dr. Simmons and Fitz. The pull that Jesse felt towards Grant Ward left him feeling partially hollow, and he knew that if he ever wanted to go back to his one-bedroom apartment with plain curtains and hardwood floors, Jesse would have to solve the mystery surrounding his doppelgänger.

 

Sipping on his coffee he had bought with the money Mack left him, Jesse brought the newly purchased newspaper up to eye level and began scanning its contents. Luckily, there seemed to be no reports of freak lightning storms or electrical failures, so either Jesse’s ‘episode’ after swallowing the fish oil capsule had gone unnoticed, or he’d been in the compound for so long it was now old news.

 

Flicking through the pages of the newspaper, Jesse paused to briefly glance over the sport section, before turning to the section that detailed ‘super-powered affairs’. Most of it was Avengers nonsense and gossip, the kind of which Jesse tried to avoid. There was, however, another article detailing the latest ‘adventures’ of Quake, the activist/anarchist whose real identity was unknown to the general public. This time, Quake had brought down a seemingly abandoned warehouse outside New York city, only for the authorities to find it was being used to illegally sell advanced, military-class weaponry.

 

Continuing on, Jesse killed time by doing the crossword. For all his forethought in the actual escape itself, Mack had failed to notify Jesse at what time the person he would be meeting would arrive at. Or if someone was even coming. The note was particularly vague in that aspect. Would it be Mack himself sneaking out of the compound to meet Jesse, or would he send someone else?

 

Another thirty minutes passed, and Jesse was on the verge of going across the street to the Starbucks to buy another coffee when someone sat down next to him on the park bench.

 

“Keep looking at your newspaper, Jesse. This place is swarming with security cameras.”

 

Against his instinct look up, Jesse followed the woman’s orders, and continued to pencil in numbers on his Sudoku, no longer caring if they were correct.

 

“In a moment, I’m going to get up and walk to the other side of the stadium, before turning down Ipswich street. Wait another ten minutes, and then come meet me on the corner of Ipswich and Boylston, okay?”

 

Mind racing to remember all of which the woman said, Jesse almost forget to reply. “Yep. I mean, sounds like a plan.” Seeing the woman leave out of the corner of his eye, Jesse began counting in his head. ‘ _I’ve really gotta get another watch._ ’

 

Ten tedious minutes of counting in his head later, Jesse got up and began to walk in the direction of Ipswich street, dropping his coffee cup and newspaper in the bin on the way. When he reached the corner which had been specified, Jesse found it deserted except for a woman, seemingly in her twenties, dressed in a way that could only be described as goth. With dark brown hair covered with a beanie, the woman was decked out in heavy eyeliner, a dark vest, and fishnet sleeves. Typical goth attire, almost to the point of being over-stereotyped.

 

AS he approached, the woman glanced up, arching her eyebrow. “At least you can follow simple instructions. The last guy went to the wrong address, before panicking and almost alerting the cops.”

 

“The last guy?”

 

The woman just turned around and began to walk away from Jesse. “I’m Skye, by the way. You better keep up; we’ve got a bit of a trek to the bus terminal.” Without looking back, Skye kept walking away, forcing Jesse to break into a jog to catch up.

 

“Um, excuse me? Where are we going, exactly? And not that I’m ungrateful, but why are you and, err, Mack helping me?”

 

Skye kept walking, barely glancing at Jesse as she responded. “Mack’s one of the few people in the world I completely trust, and he was already inside S.H.I.E.L.D., so that’s why he helped you. As for why we are helping you; there’s someone who’s interested in helping people with gifts such as yourself.”

 

Jesse faltered slightly. “Wait a sec. I was being kept by S.H.I.E.L.D.? I thought they weren’t a thing anymore?”

 

“Oh you never realised they were holding you?” Skye seemed slightly put out. “But yeah, S.H.I.E.L.D. never really died, they just went into hiding after the whole Hydra fiasco.” She paused as they reached an intersection. “What exactly is your gift, Jesse? Mack had to keep his reports brief, so I wasn’t told.”

 

The pedestrian lights signalled them to cross the road as Jesse replied. “Oh, I don’t really know the extent of them, but I create some kind of lightning?” Unintentionally, Jesse had responded with a question of sorts, as if he was seeking approval.

 

For the first time since he had met her, Jesse witnessed Skye’s calm composure falter.

 

A sharp intake of breath and widened eyes, Skye seemed to forget Jesse was with her momentarily. “Of course it’s lightning.”

 

“Wait, what?” But Skye had sped up, breaking away from Jesse by striding ahead.

 

She did not speak to him again until they reached bus terminal.

 

...........................................................................................

 

Two hours later, Jesse found himself wolfing down a burger from the diner they sat in, having recently purchased two tickets to New York city. Across from him, Skye ate her own burger at a much more reasonable pace.

 

“So,” Jesse waited until he had swallowed his mouthful before talking. “Where in New York are we headed, and who are we meeting?”

 

Skye put down her burger, and dipped two fries in ketchup as she responded. “We’re actually leaving the city from the bus terminal in New York, and heading out to Queens. Quake has an underground base there, where you’ll be safe.”

 

Jesse almost dropped his burger in shock. “Quake? You mean, the person who’ responsible for my escape is the Quake from the newspapers? As in the vigilante?”

 

“Yes, she is all those things.” Skye’s dry reply was betrayed by the small smirk she had on her face. Jesse realised his questions may have come off as slightly… fanboy-ish. The fact that he was being rescued by Quake, someone who he wasn’t sure if he himself endorsed, was a whole other issue altogether.

 

Before long, the two were stepping onto their bus. Jesse stopped Skye as she went to sit in the third row from the front. “If you don’t mind, I prefer the back.” Skye simply nodded, and headed down. As he followed her, Jesse’s head began to swim, until he sat down.

 

Only he wasn’t seeing Skye next to him. Instead, he looked over to see a blonde woman with a book in her hands. Before he could stop himself, Jesse found words he hadn’t spoken tumbling out of his mouth.

 

“You here by choice?”

 

“I like the scenery,” the blonde woman responded. “You can’t see the world with your head in the clouds.”

 

“You can’t see it with your face in a book either.” Jesse had no idea where the words he was speaking were coming from. It was like someone else was talking for him.

 

“It’s a long trip. There’s plenty of time for everything.” The woman’s smile turned flirtatious, but somehow Jesse knew it was fake. Put on.

 

“Well you could just skip to the end.”

 

The woman leaned over. “And miss all the good parts in between?”

 

“It can’t be that interesting.”

 

The woman cocked her head. “Why do you say that?”

 

“Because you were on page one seventeen when you were waiting outside, and you’re still on page one seventeen. So either you’re a really slow reader, or you’re working for Coulson.”

 

“Jesse!” And just like that the blonde woman was gone, and Jesse was back sitting next to Skye, who was looking at him with impatience. ‘ _It was a hallucination_ ,’ Jesse realised. There was no blonde woman pretending to read and flirt with him. And the other name, Coulson. Where had Jesse heard that name before? He realised Skye was still waiting for a response.

 

“I’m sorry, I zoned out. What did you say?”

 

Skye rolled her eyes. “I was just saying that it’s a long trip, so you might want to get some shut eye on the way. It’s my understanding that you didn’t get much sleep last night, what with all the escaping.”

 

“Oh, yeah I might do that actually.” As the bus pulled out of the terminal, Jesse closed his eyes and tried to drift off. However, every time he closed his eyes, he was bombarded with images of the blonde woman. Something about her screamed hostile and dangerous to Jesse, and put him on edge. Similar feeling arose when he thought of the person named Coulson. Something was wrong about this whole situation, and Jesse knew, somehow, that it all came back to Grant Ward.

 

“Skye?” Jesse opened his eyes, looking over to see his companion typing away on her phone. Looking up as he addressed her, she motioned for him to keep speaking.

 

‘ _Don’t lose your nerve, Jesse._ ’

 

“Have you ever heard of someone named Grant Ward?”

 

If Skye’s reaction to Jesse’s reveal of his powers was unexpected, then her response to his current question was something else altogether. Jesse watched as her hands clenched into fists, as if preparing for any sign of danger, and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

 

“Where did you hear that name?”

 

An omission of information wasn’t technically lying. He didn’t have to tell Skye about the Fitz’s tablet. “As I was escaping the compound, I heard Dr. Simmons talking about him to someone else. He seemed like a pretty big deal; I was just wondering is all.”

 

Skye took a deep breath and looked around, ensuring that the seats around their vicinity were vacant. “Grant Ward was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who passed away not too long ago. He was pretty high profile, so I’m not surprised you heard someone talking about him.”

 

She was lying. That much Jesse could tell. Whatever Skye knew about Grant Ward, she deemed it necessary that he not know about it. The small slither of distrust that Jesse had felt before amplified as it slithered its way between himself and Skye. Now that he was certain that she was keeping stuff from him and lying to him, could Jesse really trust Skye?

 

Skye was quick to change the topic off of Grant Ward. “When we get to the New York port authority, we’ll hail a cab, which will take us to Daisy’s bunker.”

 

Daisy? The name instantly regained Jesse’s attention, as he thought back to the conversation Fitz and Dr. Simmons had been having as he escaped.

 

“Who’s Daisy?”

 

“Oh.” Skye, obviously still rattled from the sudden Grant Ward name drop, hadn’t even realised she’d slipped up. “Daisy is Quake’s real name.”

 

“ _Daisy can never learn that he’s back_.”

 

Daisy, _Quake_ , had a connection to Grant Ward. According to Fitz and Simmons, he did something for Daisy that had earnt a degree of respect, but she still wasn’t allowed to know that he was ‘back’.

 

There was something larger at play. Larger than the emergence of Jesse’s lightning abilities, and Quake’s random acts of anarchy.

 

And it seemed that Dr Simmons, Fitz, and Skye all knew about it.

 

...........................................................................................

 

After over four long hours of silences mixed with stunted conversation attempts, the bus finally pulled into New York city port authority. From there, Skye had hailed them a cab, and the two began their final leg of their all-day journey to Queens.

 

The length of the journey had given Jesse time to compile a mental list of all the information he knew, and he either didn’t know or what was being kept from him.

 

  1. Grant Ward had his face, or at least a face that was similar to his.



 

  1. Grant Ward was, according to Simmons, inhuman (whatever that meant).



 

  1. Although a ‘bad’ person, Ward did something good for Daisy (Quake), but she cannot know that he’s apparently back,



 

  1. Skye knew more information about Ward, which she deemed that he didn’t need to know.



 

Oh, and Jesse was apparently going crazy now. You know, with hallucinations of pretty blonde women and all.

 

Suddenly, Skye tensed beside him. “Pull over.” The driver did as she asked, and she quickly paid him before jumping out of the cab. Startled, Jesse followed her.

 

“Are we here already?” He asked as the cab drove off, leaving them alone in a shipyard.

 

“Not exactly.” Skye was reaching into her backpack, and pulled out two handguns. Without hesitation, she handed one over to Jesse. “We’re being tailed. Somehow, S.H.I.E.L.D. found us.”

 

“Wait! I don’t even know how to use one of these things. And are you really planning on killing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?”

 

Skye turned around, her face appearing utterly deadpan. “These are I.C.E.R.’s. They only knock out the person I shoot. And something tells me you’ll catch on.” Without further ado, Skye held her I.C.E.R. in front of her as she rounded one of the shipping containers, disappearing from sight.

 

“What the hell do you mean by that?” Jesse shouted as he ran after her. The two wove in and out of the containers, not seeing any sign of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, let alone a search squadron. The heat of the day bore down on them, and soon Jesse was soaked in sweat. The exhaustion of running for prolonged distances in the heat, along with the lack of sleep he he’d had over the past twenty four hours, caused his concentration to falter.

 

And it was just as he dropped his I.C.E.R. to his side that a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent rounded the corner of the shipping container right in front of him.

 

“Freeze!” But the agent was barely able to get the single word out before Jesse was on him. I.C.E.R. forgotten, Jesse slammed his elbow into the agent’s chin. He quickly followed up with two quick punches to his opponent’s stomach, before spinning the dazed agent around and holding him in a headlock.

 

And before Jesse knew it, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent was on the ground, his neck broken.

 

The altercation hadn’t even lasted five seconds, with every movement and strike coming to Jesse so naturally, as if he’d performed them over and over again. But he hadn’t. Like with the words he had spoken to the blonde woman in his hallucination, the attacks felt as if someone else was controlling his body. Only, unlike with the hallucination, the dead agent was real.

 

He had just killed someone.

 

The I.C.E.R. slipped from his now limp hand, clattering to the floor beside the agent. Jesse felt numb. A few days ago, his life had been normal. Boring, even. Now he had some kind of superpower, was on the run with a goth girl who was lying to him, and to top it all off, he had just killed someone.

 

“Okay, I think we might’ve lost-” Skye rounded the corner ahead of him, coming to a stop s she took in the scene. Jesse standing over the dead body of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

 

“I-” The words came out of Jesse’s mouth choked. His mouth felt dry as he attempted to express what had happened. “I didn’t mean to. H-he was just there, and I r-reacted, and suddenly he was just on the ground.” He looked up, hoping against hope to find understanding or sympathy in Skye’s eyes.

 

But the only emotion Skye was showing right now was fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, there is a reason why Skye and Daisy/Quake are being referred to as different people. There was a lot of things wrong with The Phantom Menace, but I'm always a sucker for a good decoy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Jesse!” She yelled as she opened the door. “I told you to never come back in here. What the hell are you doing?”
> 
> But Jesse wasn’t faltering under her glare. Not this time. He pushed past her before she could slam the door, walking into the room and turning around. “It’s not me who should be explaining myself.”
> 
> “What the hell does that mean?”
> 
> Jesse levelled his eyes with her, not breaking contact. “Grant Ward. I’m him, aren’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so the reason I'm posting this chapter much earlier in the day is because I'm going out tonight, and I wanted to put up a chapter today. This does mean that there might be a small delay with chapter 4 (hopefully not). Enjoy :)

“He killed an innocent man! A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent! How can we be expected to move on from this?”

 

“A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is hardly an innocent man. For all the crimes S.H.I.E.L.D. has committed, I say it’s well deserved.”

 

“Did this man deserve to die because of what S.H.I.E.L.D. has done? I knew this would happen if I brought him here, but you pushed your way-”

 

“We are a democracy! We make decisions together, and you were outvoted, Skye.”

 

“Skye! Alisha! Both of you need to calm down, now.”

 

“I say let them keep goin’. This is kinda hot.”

 

“Not helping, James!”

 

The argument on the other side of the door had been going on for at least thirty minutes, Jesse supposed. Whether or not they knew he could hear them, he wasn’t sure. Hell, they probably didn’t care. Jesse didn’t really care himself at this point. He was still feeling numb from when he had _murdered_ a man. The thing that confused Jesse the most was that he didn’t feel any guilt. At first, he had guessed that it was the shock of what had happened, but it had been almost two hours later now. All through Skye dragging him through the shipyard to the underground bunker, he had not felt it. He had not felt it when he had been directed forcefully through the hallways of the bunker to the conference room. And he did not feel it now, as he waited for a group of people he didn’t know to decide his fate.

 

Sure, S.H.I.E.L.D. had locked him up. But surely that would not stop even an ounce of guilt to seep into Jesse’s psyche. Instead, he felt like a tin man, with no emotions. It was as, with the natural way in which he killed the man, along with the lack of emotion afterwards, he was a seasoned veteran in the art of murder. But Jesse Clayton had never killed a man in his life before today.

 

The doors by which Jesse was sitting next to opened, and a tall, red-headed woman walked out. She seemed to look down at Jesse with something of a cross between disdain and carelessness. “You’re wanted in here.”

 

Jesse got up from his spot against the wall, and entered the conference room. Inside, four other people stared back at him, with varying levels of emotion. As the red-head back to her chair, Skye rose from hers.

 

“Jesse, if you would take a seat.” As opposed to earlier in the day, Skye’s words were now cold, and without emotion. It chilled Jesse to the bone. He took the only empty seat at the end of the table. The way in which the five other pairs of eyes scrutinised him made him feel as if he was receiving a life sentence. “ _Hell, I probably am_.”

 

While Jesse was taking his seat, Skye had begun introducing the other people at the table, starting with the red-head. “Opposite me is Alisha.” Alisha simply nodded, before turning back to glare at Skye. “The guy sitting next her is James.”

 

“G’day, what’s cracking.” Jesse decided to ignore the Australian’s neck cracking pun, if he had even realised he had made it.

 

“Sitting next to me is Joey. He’s one of our newer recruits.” Skye nodded to the Latino man next to her, who actually bore a slight resemblance to Jesse himself. The person in question, Joey, gave a weak grin. “And opposite you is Daisy.” When Skye’s words sunk in, Jesse looked to the other head of the table, where Daisy (Quake) sat.

 

Daisy… was not at all what Jesse expected. When he thought of Quake, the infamous vigilante, he thought of a battle-hardened, wizened warrior. Daisy was the exact opposite. Her soft features were complemented by her wavy, dark hair and flower printed dress. “ _Of course the legendary Quake, whose real name is Daisy, dresses in flowers. Figures._ ”

 

“Mr. Clayton. It’s a pleasure to have you in our home. Although I do wish it was under better circumstances.” Daisy spoke in a rich tone, with all the elegance of a woman in royalty, not someone who runs the streets and brings down buildings with her earthquake powers.

 

“Thanks for having me rescued from the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound, Daisy.” Jesse figured a thanks was in order, after all the trouble Daisy, Skye and Mack went through. “I’m just sorry I killed that man.”

 

Daisy seemed to be dissecting him with her eyes, not showing any emotion as she analysed his every movement. “I barely did a thing, Jesse. It’s Skye you have to thank for all the heavy lifting. Skye tells us that you have the ability to control lightning?”

 

James scoffed. “First Sparky, now this nob? She sure knows how to pick ‘em.”

 

Not really knowing what he meant, Jesse chose to ignore the comment. “I think so? It’s only happened twice so far.”

 

Daisy nodded in understanding “As you may be aware, Jesse, in this room we put everything to a vote. That way, we have no real leader, and avoid falling into many of the pitfalls others have encountered in the past.”

 

“Cough-Jaiying-cough.” James spluttered, earning a glare from Skye across the table.

 

Daisy simply paused, before continuing. “Because of your actions earlier today, you’re entrance into our home must be approved from those in this room. Alisha?”

 

The red-head barely glanced up from where she was filing her nails. “I don’t really care that you killed the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but you seem dangerous. So I say no.” That wasn’t good. Ever since he had overheard they would be putting the decision to a vote, Jesse had been counting on Alisha’s vote, based on her opposing viewpoint to Skye.

 

It was Skye who spoke next. “You’re a danger and a menace to everyone around you. We’ve built a sanctuary here and I don’t want you ruining it. No, I don’t think you should stay here.” Jesse had seen that one coming, but her brutal delivery hurt him.

 

It seemed James was his first saving grace, however. “You seem like an okay fella, and we need more dudes around this place. Besides, who hasn’t killed someone here? That’s just an ordinary Saturday night for some of us.” The room grew silent, and Jesse wondered if James was joking or not.

 

Joey also followed suit with James’ viewpoint. “Everyone makes a mistake or two. When I first got my powers, it was a miracle I didn’t kill anyone with the damage I caused. Oh, and for the record, I, um, haven’t killed someone.”

 

That made Daisy the tie vote. She glanced over at Jesse one final time, before speaking. “You’ve caused a lot of misery, Jesse Clayton. And you will cause more. But I believe there’s a soul to save inside you. Yes, you may seek refuge here.”

 

The sound of a chair scraping the floor alerted the room to Skye as she pushed her it back, sending it skidding across the floor. She gave Jesse one final glare, before leaving the room.

 

“Now that’s what I call a diva storm out,” James said as he leaned over to Alisha. “I mean, you can’t really argue with little miss oracle over there, can ya?”

 

Joey stood up from his chair and walked over to Jesse, holding out his hand for Jesse to shake. “I’ll show you to your room, if you want?”

 

...........................................................................................

 

Jesse stood outside Skye’s room, debating whether or not he should knock, when it opened from the inside.

 

“Just get in here, you were giving me anxiety with your pacing.” Skye directed him in. Jesse noticed that she looked completely different to how he had previously seen her. Gone were the goth clothing and eyeliner, with Skye now wearing a simple grey sweater and navy jeans.

 

“You look…”

 

“Not goth?” Skye finished for him. “I don’t actually dress like that. It’s just for going out in public. Unfortunately, my face is pretty easily recognised by the wrong people.”

 

“Oh.” Jesse wasn’t sure what to say to that. He kind of liked Skye’s goth look, but she looked much more natural now, sans eyeliner and fishnets.

 

“Just so you know, my stance on you hasn’t changed since before. I still think you’re dangerous and untrustworthy. But I was outvoted, so I’m going to have to learn to live with you.” Skye then proceeded to walk into her bathroom, leaving Jesse alone in her bedroom.

 

Jesse decided he was offended by that comment. “Well then, I’ll just have to prove you wrong,” he called after her. Looking around, Jesse noticed that Skye’s room was rather impersonal, with the only item of emotion seeming to be a photo frame on the nightstand of her bed. Picking it up he found himself looking at a picture of Skye, being hugged from behind by a tall, blonde man. Skye’s eyes were scrunched up and she was grinning in delight, as the man pecked a kiss to the head.

 

“His name was Lincoln.” Skye’s sudden return to the bedroom startled Jesse so much he almost dropped the photo. Setting it back down on the nightstand, he turned around to face Skye.

 

“Sorry for snooping. I was just looking around when I saw it.”

 

Skye sighed. “It’s fine, I guess. Now get out, and don’t come back.”

 

...........................................................................................

 

The underground bunker was much larger than Jesse had originally thought. Apart from the five leaders who had determined Jesse’s fate, the bunker was inhabited by countless other individuals. Jesse wondered if everyone here had powers. Apart from Daisy, he hadn’t seen any demonstrations of supernatural abilities, including from Skye. In fact, he hadn’t even thought to ask if she had powers.

 

Looking around at the makeshift mess hall, Jesse took in the sight of at least one hundred people sitting and chatting with one another as they waited for their food. While most appeared ordinary, Jesse did notice that some we physically altered. One woman had large horns protruding from her hair, with another man having blue skin.

 

With no other option, Jesse walked over to an empty table in the corner. Not really being the mood to socialize with the others, he largely kept his eyes cast down, so as to deter anyone wanting to sit down at the table. It obviously didn’t work however, as someone sat down opposite him. Looking up, Jesse saw Joey looking at him expectantly.

 

“Hey, it’s Joey, right?”

 

The man in question fidgeted under Jesse’s gaze. “Yeah, I’m Joey Gutierrez. I just wanted to see if you were settling in alright.”

 

Jesse looked around, at everyone else in the room. Looked at everyone happily talking and laughing. Everyone who he was trying to avoid. “I guess it’s all going well. Skye’s still barely speaking to me, but everyone else I’ve met has seemed nice.”

 

“D-Skye’s got her reasons, some of which are justified, while others aren’t.” Jesse wasn’t entirely sure what Joey meant by that. “I know it can be intimidating, coming here to see everyone else like us. But it gets better, I promise. I’ve only been here a few months, but this bunker has become my home.”

 

At that moment, the doors to the mess hall opened, and everyone cheered as Alisha entered with a stack of pizza boxes, followed by… Alisha. Who was followed by Alisha. In total, five Alisha’s entered, all of them carrying a stack of boxes. Jesse could only gape.

 

Joey chuckled. “Yeah, that one got me as well. Alisha can create duplicates of herself. It comes in handy every now and then.”

 

“Does everyone here have powers? That was the first display I’ve seen.”

 

A puzzled look crossed Joey’s face as he took in what Jesse said. “You mean Skye didn’t explain? We’re what you call inhumans. It means that we have alien DNA in our bodies, which can be activated by a substance called Terrigan. That same substance was recently introduced into the ecosystem, and somehow got into the fish oil capsules we both swallowed.”

 

Inhuman. So that’s what he was. Jesse thought back to the conversation he overheard between Dr. Simmons and Fitz, where they mentioned that Grant Ward was also an inhuman. Its seemed as though with every piece of the puzzle that was his life Jesse received, more vacant slots were being added.

 

“What’s your thing then, Joey? What can you do?”

 

Rather than tell him Joey’s eyes simply drifted over to the cutlery rack on the corner of the table. Without him lifting a finger, the metal structure melted into a liquid pool, before reassembling itself into one enormous spoon.

 

“Woah. That’s amazing.”

 

“Yeah, well at the start it felt like a curse,” Joey shrugged. “The day I transitioned, I caused a lot of damage. I still thank the heavens that no one was killed.” He then stood, and beckoned for Jesse to follow, as the two lined up to get their dinner. After receiving their pizza and returning to their table, they fell into a comfortable silence as they ate.

 

Not too long later, Jesse broke it. “Hey, Joey?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“In Skye’s room, there’s a picture of her with a guy. She said his name is Lincoln. What happened to him?”

 

Joey looked like a deer in the headlights, before recovering and swallowing his mouthful. “Ah, well. Lincoln was D- I mean, Skye’s boyfriend. Like you, he could manipulate electricity. He, um, died not too long ago, though.”

 

“Oh.” ‘ _That’s why Skye was so touchy about the subject._ ’ “Wait, so we both had the same power? That seems a little against the odds, doesn’t it?”

 

“Not exactly. Lincoln believed every inhuman had a purpose. A destiny, if you will. I guess that with him dead, the world needed another thunder dude?”

 

“Yeah,” Jesse replied absently, his mind a thousand miles away. “I guess it did.”

 

...........................................................................................

 

When sleep finally came to Jesse that night, the dreams began.

 

He saw himself sitting opposite Skye, the two of them playing a game of battleship. Then they were kissing. The she was hitting him, calling him a liar, a son of a bitch, a Nazi.

 

He saw Fitz and Simmons, pleading at him from behind a window as they moved away from him, before falling away.

 

He saw the blonde woman he had seen earlier, bound to a chair and shivering in pain.

 

He saw Daisy, smirking at him in her flower dress, before walking away with a briefcase. “Maybe you two can be monsters together.”

 

It was only after seeing himself standing in front of a burning house that Jesse woke, covered in sweat. Without hesitation, he headed straight for Skye’s room, pounding on the door with abandon

 

“Jesse!” She yelled as she opened the door. “I told you to never come back in here. What the hell are you doing?”

 

But Jesse wasn’t faltering under her glare. Not this time. He pushed past her before she could slam the door, walking into the room and turning around. “It’s not me who should be explaining myself.”

 

“What the hell does that mean?”

 

Jesse levelled his eyes with her, not breaking contact. “Grant Ward. I’m him, aren’t I?”

 

Whatever Skye had been expecting him to say, it obviously wasn’t this. “Wha- do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? Grant Ward is a dead S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.”

 

“I saw his picture on Fitz’s tablet. He looks exactly like me. We’re both inhuman. I keep having flashes of a life that isn’t mine. I killed that man on complete instinct.” He began to pace towards Skye. “I don’t know how, but we’re the same person. I have his memories, so we have to be linked.”

 

Skye sighed, before speaking again. “Look, I-”

 

“Don’t you dare feed me another lie! I cannot be lied to again!”

 

Before the argument could escalate, Skye’s bedroom door opened again, with Mack standing in the doorway.

 

“Mack!” Skye turned in surprise. “What’s happened?”

 

“It’s S.H.I.E.L.D.” Mack turned to face Jesse. “They know you killed one of their agents, and they have your location. There’s a tracker embedded in your left forearm.” Jesse looked down, and indeed he did notice a slight lump under his skin. “Skye, they’re coming here.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to pick up, with S.H.I.E.L.D. coming and Jesse remembering. I'm sure most of you have worked out who fake!Daisy is at this point, I didn't really try to hide it (plus the tags kinda give it away).


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At that moment, the doors to the conference hall opened, and none other than Skye herself walked out. “Jesse, could you come in here for a second?” Casting her eyes around the room, Jesse saw Skye throw a shy grin at Fitz and Simmons, which was returned equally as apprehensive by the two.
> 
> Jesse entered the conference room, sitting down left of Daisy, Skye sitting on her right. The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents sat opposite them.
> 
> “My name is Phil Coulson; I am the director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaack! Sorry that this chapter is just a tad shorter than the others, I was really rushed for time today, but I wanted to get a chapter out for you guys, so I cut the chapter in half.
> 
> Speaking of time, I go back to uni next week (ugh) so this fic won't have a daily update schedule anymore (so sorry!!!). Instead, I will be updating every Sunday, in Australian time at least. Weeks where I have less on I will try to pump out a couple more chapters, but I'm just warning you guys.
> 
> Now without further ado, enjoy :)

To say that the state of the conference room was chaos was a complete understatement. It seemed as though everyone had at least someone to yell at. Skye was hurling insults are Alisha, who was firing them right back. Joey was leaping to Skye’s defence. Mack was berating James about not taking anything seriously, the latter of whom was still making wisecracks. Other than Jesse, only Daisy remained silent. The leader of the inhuman colony appeared to be deep in thought, her eyes closed as she rested her head against her hands.

 

“I say we give him up!” Alisha was yelling at Skye. “If S.H.I.E.L.D.’s coming here for him, then we give him to them.”

 

“No! We can’t do that. We can’t turn one of us over to them. They’ll index Jesse and let him rot in a prison cell for the rest of his life.” In a complete 180˚ turn from earlier that day, it was Skye who was jumping in to defend Jesse.

 

Like Jesse, Joey had also picked up on Skye’s change of opinion. “Wait. Weren’t you just arguing we should not let him stay?”

 

“Yes, I was. And I was outvoted. We granted Jesse sanctuary this afternoon; we cannot take that away on the same day.” As much as Skye was trying to fall back on the laws of the sanctuary, Jesse knew the true reason why she didn’t want to hand him over. To her, he was dangerous. With Jesse’s declaration that he knew he was Ward, Skye couldn’t hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. without finding out what else he knew. What else he remembered.

 

On the way to the conference room, Skye had hissed into Jesse’s ear to not speak of what he had discovered. Jesse understood the knowledge made him dangerous, even if he did not know why. There was a reason no one spoke of Grant Ward lightly, and he would find out why.

 

“Skye’s right.” Daisy chose this moment to speak up. “We are inhumans. We protect our own. When S.H.I.E.L.D. comes, Skye and I will meet with them. We will negotiate a peaceful outcome, and we will survive, as we always have.” At the end of her speech, Jesse caught the glance that Daisy sent Skye, one that looked as if she was… seeking approval? The moment was so fleeting that Jesse thought he had imagined it, until he saw Skye nod out of the corner of her eye.

 

“It’s not that simple,” Mack retaliated. “Jesse killed one of our own. He was a good agent, and a good man. S.H.I.E.L.D. will not let that go so easily. If only we had thought to check for a tracker.” He looked up at Jesse in confusion. “What were you doing in Skye’s room, anyway?”

 

“First night here and you’ve already got him in your room? You really do have a type, don’t ya?”

 

“Can it, James! We were just talking.”

 

All the while, Jesse was contemplating what was already on everyone else’s minds. “Shouldn’t I be turning myself in, though? I mean, I did kill one of someone. That kind of crime deserves justice.”

 

Skye turned to face him. “No, I’ll talk to Coulson. I’ll make him see that we can keep you safe here.”

 

“Coulson?” Jesse remembered the name from his vision on the bus with the blonde woman. Apparently, Grant Ward had a history with nearly every person he’d met since waking up in the cell.

 

“Coulson is the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

 

“Oh.” Knowing how everything else in his life was going so far, Jesse probably should have expected that. “How long do we have until they get here?”

 

Skye and Mack exchanged a look. “That’s the thing.” Skye looked Jesse in the eyes. “They’re outside the bunker now.”

 

...........................................................................................

 

It was strange to see Dr. Simmons and Fitz conversing with Joey not only politely, but in a friendly manner. Jesse would have figured S.H.I.E.L.D. and the inhumans would be at each other’s throats the moment they came into contact. Don’t get him wrong, there was a tense atmosphere to the meeting. A man who Jesse assumed to be Coulson had followed Skye into the conference centre, where Daisy was waiting. He had been accompanied by an Asian woman, who had levelled Jesse with the most intimidating glare he had ever seen as she walked past him.

 

Dr. Simmons and Fitz had also journeyed to the inhuman sanctuary, escorted by about ten S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. While at first they had seemed on edge, the two apparently knew Joey already, and had gravitated to him. On the other hand, Simmons had fixed Mack with an icy stare, and Fitz had ignored the man as the two went to talk to Joey.

 

“They’re not happy I shot them to help you escape,” Mack explained to Jesse. “No one really is.”

 

“Why did you do it? Why did you risk your job and your safety to help me?”

 

Mack sighed as he glanced over at Simmons and Fitz. “About a year ago, the two people in S.H.I.E.L.D. I considered family left. Granted, it wasn’t their choice, but they walked away, and I was left alone with a group of people who were closer to each other than they were to me. Skye, who was already my partner at that time, filled the void that Bobbi and Hunter left. We’d both lost our families recently, and so we became each other’s. I would do anything for Skye, and she would do anything for me.”

 

Mack’s answer left Jesse a little speechless. He knew that he and Skye were close, but the way Mack described their bond, as each other’s family; that he had not expected. He knew that Mack would back any decision Skye made, and so if she wanted Jesse gone, he would have no ally in Mack.

 

“I had no idea the two of you were so close.”

 

“A lot of people don’t.” Suddenly, Jesse remembered something Mack had said in his pseudo speech.

 

“Wait. Skye was your partner? Does that mean she was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?”

 

Mack nodded. “And a good one two. She only left a couple of months ago, after someone close to her passed on.”

 

“You mean Lincoln, don’t you?”

 

Mack seemed surprised that Jesse knew of him. “Yeah. Lincoln… was a troubled man. He rubbed a lot of people in S.H.I.E.L.D. the wrong way, and was often at odds with our decisions, but his heart was in the right place. When he died, a few people found themselves hurting, but none more than Skye.”

 

With every bit of information Jesse received from those closest to her, Skye was slowly becoming less and less of a mystery. As he learnt about her past, he found himself understanding the decisions and views she had taken since he had met her. She was fiercely protective of her family, and so was willing to cut off Jesse in order to protect them. But when the greater danger became the knowledge he had, Skye would do almost anything to keep him under her eye.

 

At that moment, the doors to the conference hall opened, and none other than Skye herself walked out. “Jesse, could you come in here for a second?” Casting her eyes around the room, Jesse saw Skye throw a shy grin at Fitz and Simmons, which was returned equally as apprehensive by the two.

 

Jesse entered the conference room, sitting down left of Daisy, Skye sitting on her right. The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents sat opposite them.

 

“My name is Phil Coulson; I am the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.” The man, Coulson, confirmed Jesse’s guess from earlier. “And this agent Melinda May.” May just stared at Jesse with the same blank, but icy stare she had levelled at him earlier. The way she eyed Jesse immediately put him on edge.

 

Coulson had continued to speak. “What you’ve done is very serious, Mr. Clayton. Breaking out of a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, and then killing one of our agents? I’m sorry, but we cannot let this go.”

 

Was it bad that the only guilt Jesse felt over the entire event was that he had brought chaos with him to the sanctuary? He still did not feel anything over the man’s death, but Coulson did not need to know that. “I know, and I can’t apologise enough. It’s something I know I will never really warn forgiveness for. I killed a good man. But I swear, I didn’t mean to. It just happened. He was in front of me, and suddenly, without thinking about it, I was attacking him. I honestly don’t know what came over me.”

 

That statement earned a reaction from both Coulson and May, the former’s eyebrows shooting up his forehead, while the woman tilted her head to the side.

 

“Be that as it may, you have proved yourself to be a threat to those around you. If what you said is really true, and you had no intention to kill that man, then you are a danger to the people who are choosing to stand behind you, and protect you.” Coulson glanced over at Skye. “We came here to bring you in, Mr. Clayton, but both Skye and… Daisy have made it clear that they would treat that as an act of war. I have neither the time nor the manpower to fight you, but I do have another solution. I would like to station a S.H.I.E.L.D. task force here, at the sanctuary, to monitor you at all times. We need to be sure that you won’t hurt anyone else, Jesse.”

 

“No.” Skye’s stance was strong as she countered Coulson’s idea. “This is an _Inhuman_ sanctuary. I- we built this as a home for everyone who needed it. Having your men here will disrupt and agitate those here who have been wronged by S.H.I.E.L.D. before. I won’t allow it.”

 

Coulson leaned over the table, now focusing directly on Skye. “It is either that, or we take Mr. Clayton with us back to base. As director, I need to personally be confident he is not a safety threat. If you can see another option, _Skye_ , then please, fill us in.” The room was silent as Coulson sat back against his chair.

 

Finally, after what seemed like a millennium, Skye spoke again. “Fine. I’ll talk to Mack, and-”

 

“Agent Mackenzie will not be staying here. After his previous actions, his loyalty is in question. He too will be monitored by us, but from the security of our own base. Agent May will be leading the team stationed here.”

 

May simply let a small, somewhat sinister smile cross her face as she glanced at Jesse.

 

Skye again looked ready to protest, but was silenced as Daisy spoke up. “I am not happy about this, Agent Coulson. Skye is right when she said that our people will not be happy. But I cannot see another way out of this, so let me be the first to welcome Agent May into our home.”

 

Skye was looking at Daisy in shock, anger and betrayal as she and Coulson finalized the details of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team’s accommodation. Obviously, she had expected her to stand against Coulson’s idea.

 

It was only later, after Coulson, Fitz, Simmons and Mack had departed that Jesse accidently overheard their argument.

 

“-cannot believe you just bent over and let them walk all over you. Surely you of all people know how invasive S.H.I.E.L.D. is when they ‘monitor’ someone.”

 

“I did what was right, Skye. When you told me just before they got here that it was essential that S.H.I.E.L.D. did not get Ward, I did just that. I tried, I really did. But you know as well as I do that Coulson would not have left here without having some way to monitor Ward. Other than turning him over to them, having May stay here was our only option.”

 

“You still don’t get to decide-”

 

“I earnt that right the moment you put me in charge, Skye! You can’t raise me on some pedestal in front of everyone, and then expect me to just bow down to you when it’s necessary.”

 

Jesse heard Skye sigh in acceptance. “You’re right, I’m sorry. Just having S.H.I.E.L.D. back here, not to mention being around _him_ again, puts me on edge. Do you think you could just, you know, try and look-”?

 

“No.”

 

“I know you said you were done seeing, but please? I can’t take this anymore.”

 

“The last time I went down that path, Skye, I let all that power go to my head. I nearly brought civil war to Afterlife. I promised never to- Jesse.”

 

Jesse realized that Daisy had finally spotted him standing around the corner. Busted, he reluctantly walked into the room as Skye whirled around, caught like a deer in the headlights. “How much of that did you here?”

 

“Enough,” Jesse answered Skye. “So, I really am him then, aren’t I. I’m Ward, and you both knew.” Ignoring Skye’s pleas for him to stop, Jesse turned and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? I'm trying to portray everyone as similar to how they appear in the show, with the exception of a couple of characters, due to the whole identity mix up between Skye (Diasy), Daisy (Raina), and Jesse (Ward). Wow, I just realised how confusing that is XD
> 
> There are of course some continuity changes I've made to the universe so this fic makes sense, most of which will be explained in due time, so don't stress!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I was also wondering… well, if you wanted to give your project from yesterday another attempt.”
> 
> “I thought you said-”
> 
> “And I stand by that, Jesse. If you don’t want to give it another try, then there’s no pressure. But sooner or later you’re going to have to learn, and at least this way you can help a bit more with the construction of the extra dorms.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised an update by Sunday (Australian time) and I delivered! It's currently 11;28pm here, so I was really cutting it close! I planned to have finished this chapter much earlier today, but well, Comic-Con happened (Ghost Rider is coming!) and so I spent all day fawning over the Wonder Woman trailer instead XD
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

In comparison to the action-packed day in which Jesse had arrived at the sanctuary, the next three days almost seemed dull. However, after the intensity of escaping the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound, journeying across states to the inhuman bunker, before having said bunker breached by the very people he had escaped from, Jesse felt that ‘dull’ was a relief.

 

He hadn’t seen either Skye or Daisy in those three days either. Upon inquiry, Jesse had found out from Joey that the two had left the sanctuary for ‘business’. Business which Jesse suspected involved Quake bringing down a few buildings or taking down a Hydra compound. In the absence of the two women, Jesse had found himself fitting in reasonably well into life at the sanctuary. Joey had continued to be as welcoming as he had been on Jesse’s first day, and an easy friendship had been struck up. After an extra day of relaxation to regain his bearings, Joey had set him to work by helping out with the construction of extra facilities in the compound. With more and more inhumans arriving at the bunker each week, Jesse had at first feared that there would not be enough room. That was, at least, until he had become acquainted with a young girl who could drill through solid earth with her hands.

 

Apart from Joey, other inhumans had been approaching Jesse, introducing themselves. A young Colombian woman who had arrived the day before him, Elena Rodriguez, had introduced herself to him in broken English. She had been taking English lessons from Joey, who also spoke Spanish. Jesse had sat in on a couple of them, with the aim of learning a bit of Elena’s native tongue, only to find himself understanding the entire language almost without effort.

 

The only blight on the otherwise pleasant past three days had been the presence of Melinda May. Agent May had been following him everywhere he went, always with the same blank, if not hostile, expression. Once or twice Jesse had attempted to strike up conversation, only to be shot down by a deadpan look from the woman. In fact, he had barely heard May speak at all. Other than a “thank you” when she was offered food, or an “it’s time to return to your room, Clayton”, the woman had been relatively silent. Still, Jesse internally thanked Director Coulson for not ordering May to be present in his room as he slept. As much as he felt under scrutiny during the day, having her in his room at night would be… unfathomable.

 

Other than May’s presence, S.H.I.E.L.D. had remained out of contact; keeping their word to stay away from the sanctuary. Although he assumed that May reported to Coulson regularly, the disgraced agency had not barged their doors down, meaning that Jesse was at least doing something right.

 

On the morning of the fifth day, Jesse had been eating his breakfast with Elena and Joey when the latter of the two spoke up, ultimately breaking the peace that had been created over the past days.

 

“So, Daisy and Skye are due back this afternoon.”

 

As much as he had been blocking it out of his mind, Jesse knew that eventually the elephant in the room regarding Grant Ward would have to be addressed. And that moment would probably arrive when he saw either of the two women again.

 

“Oh, I see.” Jesse kicked himself for his words betraying how he felt on the subject. Seeing Elena’s questioning look, Joey recited his earlier statement in Spanish to the woman before turning back to Jesse.

 

“Look. I know that something went down between you and the two of them.” Sitting down the table from him, May’s eyes perked up at Joey’s words. “I’ll try to keep you busy and out of there crosshairs for as long as I can, but if they come asking for you, I won’t turn them away. Whatever issue they have, I’m sure it’s for the good of everyone here.” Jesse nodded in thanks. Joey had been more than hospitable to him, going above the necessary level of politeness to help Jesse fit in.

 

“I was also wondering… well, if you wanted to give your project from yesterday another attempt.”

 

“I thought you said-”

 

“And I stand by that, Jesse. If you don’t want to give it another try, then there’s no pressure. But sooner or later you’re going to have to learn, and at least this way you can help a bit more with the construction of the extra dorms.”

 

This ‘project’ that Joey was referring to was the practice of Jesse’s powers. He knew that eventually, he would have to get a grip on them. If Jesse were to lose control like he did back at the S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker, he could actually hurt someone, what with the crowded nature of the sanctuary. Unfortunately, yesterday when he had attempted to summon his ‘electricity’, nothing extraordinary had happened at all. Not a single spark had been emitted. Joey had told him that it was just because he was learning, and that he himself had gone through similar things, but Jesse sensed his friend lying to him. It was as if his powers had been sucked out of him.

 

“Yeah, okay. I’ll give it another shot.” Aside from keeping everyone safer, Jesse knew that Joey was desperate for his powers to re-emerge. While Joey could mould metal into the shape of rooms to keep the earth around them from caving in, there was still the issue of power. Rewiring circuits was not an easy task, and unfortunately none of the inhumans at the sanctuary were electricians. If helping to power the new rooms was Jesse’s way of giving back to the people who had risked their own security to shelter him, then he would do all he could to help.

 

Four hours later found Jesse in the same situation as yesterday, however. He had been sitting in the corner of his room, a light globe between his hands, desperately willing it to turn on.

 

‘ _Just let it out. All the anger, all the confusion. Let it out._ ’ While a good friend, Joey was also relatively new to this world, and so did not make the best teacher. He had suggested that Jesse seek help from someone who had been inhuman for longer, such as Alisha, but the he didn’t feel comfortable with that. While Joey and the general populace had been welcoming, Alisha had maintained her cold front (and Jesse did not trust James to teach him control one bit).

 

After several minutes of closing his eyes and concentrating, Jesse finally groaned in frustration as he gave up. He had no idea what he was doing; he didn’t feel even slightly special. Looking up, Jesse saw agent May staring at him from the corner of the room, and something within just snapped.

 

“What are you looking at?! All you do is stare at me! Surely you have to have some input in the shitstorm that is my life!”

 

And for the first time since he had met her, May showed emotion. “Frankly, yes. I do have some input. You’re not worth it.” She pushed forward off the wall and strode towards Jesse. “All the trouble everyone is going through for you? Skye, Mack, the inhumans? They’re just gonna end up hurt because of you. Because that is who you are, Jesse. Pain.”

 

Jesse just stared at her. This woman, so full of pain, hated him. To his core. And he had no idea why. Whatever past he had shared with her (and he was sure that at some point, he knew May) was shrouded in mystery.

 

Seeming to become aware of her outburst, May’s expression became blank once more. She turned around and headed for the door. As she opened it, she turned once more to Jesse. “And just for the record, you’re going about this in the completely wrong way. I’ll be outside.”

 

The door slammed shut behind her, leaving Jesse alone to his thoughts.

 

...........................................................................................

 

Jesse and May’s altercation aside, the rest of the day proved mostly uneventful, with the most exciting event for the sanctuary being the return of Skye and Daisy. Surprisingly, neither woman approached him upon their return. In fact, the two completely ignored him for the most part, except for Skye’s nod when she served him his pasta that evening. Jesse watched her as he ate from across the room, as she played with the youngest girl in the compound. He noticed her whole face light up whenever her silly faces drew a giggle from the girl. The way in which she seemed to not have a care in the world as she made quacking noises and as she ‘flew’ the forkful of pasta into the girl’s mouth. It was like Skye was a different person altogether.

 

Unfortunately, Skye did not take long to notice Jesse’s staring, and shut down almost immediately as a result. While she still smiled and played with her companion, he could see the strained, almost awkward way in which she proceeded. With a shock, Jesse realised he had no idea what Skye’s powers were. He resolved to ask Joey at a later date.

 

“She is very beautiful, no?”

 

Jesse startled as Elena sat down across from him. The woman grinned at him playfully, as if she was aware of something he was not. Jesse knew he had been sprung staring.

 

“You’re English is getting better, Elena.” He deflected her question with a complement, hoping Elena would let it go.

 

She did, thankfully, but still narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes. Joey says I am doing good as well.” Elena twirled her pasta around her fork. “Why do they not like you?”

 

“Um, what?”

 

“Skye and Daisy. They don’t like you.” Even though she didn’t have a strong grasp on the English language, Elena had proven herself to be very perceptive, her picking up on the hostility between Jesse, Skye and Daisy being only the latest example.

 

“It’s not that they don’t like me.” Seeing that he had lost Elena, he spoke again, this time using simpler words. “They… like me? We had a… well, a fight. We had a fight.” Jesse mimed a few punches, causing Elena smile in recognition.

 

“Did you win?”

 

How do you explain to someone that doesn’t speak English well that the fight wasn’t a physical one? Instead of trying again, Jesse simply spoke the truth.

 

“No. No I didn’t.”

 

...........................................................................................

 

That evening, it was Skye who visited Jesse's room.

 

After getting over the shock of seeing the woman at his door, Jesse stepped aside, letting her in. Skye walked in, looking over the contents of the room. ‘ _She’s probably thinking how impersonal it looks. Not like I have any possessions anyway_.’

 

“I like what you’ve done with your hair.” Jesse immediately kicked himself for how sappy and cliché he sounded. Skye had cropped her hair shorter than it was previously, to where it ended at shoulder level. Realising it was how Skye appeared in the photo she had of her and Lincoln, Jesse immediately became uncomfortable.

 

Skye, for her part, looked just as uncomfortable. “Um, thanks. It’s practical to have it shorter.” She sat down on Jesse’s bed. “I’ve been talking to Daisy, and we think it’s time we stopped lying to you. Grant Ward was a member of Hydra masquerading as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He was among the first S.H.I.E.L.D. agents I came into contact with, and my first senior officer. Upon revealing himself as Hydra, he did some terrible things, and killed many people. However, he almost died trying to save me from a creature known as Hive, and did inadvertently save more lives that day, so Coulson decided to have him undergo the T.A.H.I.T.I. protocol.”

 

Wow, that was a lot of information to receive in thirty seconds. In a way, Skye hadn’t really been lying earlier when she had said Ward was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Jesse had heard about the whole S.H.I.E.L.D./Hydra fiasco, so it made sense that there had been some double agents within S.H.I.E.L.D. “Wait, so how do I fit into all this? And what’s the T.A.H.I.T.I. protocol?”

 

Skye looked at him, right in the eyes, before responding. “T.A.H.I.T.I. is a program that wipes the patient’s memory, and implants new memories in its place. It’s been used for many people who have suffered great pain, including my Father. Ward had his memory wiped, and was given a new civilian identity. That identity is, well-”

 

“Me.”

 

It was simple. After everything he had been wondering, all the things Skye was telling made sense. Perfect sense. The hallucinations and dreams Jesse had were obviously of Ward’s past. The way in which he killed the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent on instinct? Of course Ward would’ve been highly trained in hand to hand combat. He was probably no stranger to snapping necks either. The something else occurred to Jesse.

 

“Wait a second. Back at the S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker, I heard Fitz and Simmons talking about, well, me I guess. They were saving I saved _Daisy’s_ life, not yours.”

 

Skye looked up in shock. “You heard them say that? Yeah, well, Daisy was one of the people you accidently saved. I mean, why else would she risk all this to help you?”

 

It made sense, in a way. Although Jesse still sensed Skye wasn’t being truly honest with him, after the truckload of information he had just received, he wasn’t in the mood to push for more.

 

Skye continued speaking. “You have to understand; you were meant to live a normal life after what happened with Hive. If it wasn’t for you being an inhuman, which by the way, what are the chances that you were? I mean of all people, you, Grant Ward, had to be pulled back into my life like this. And with the same powers as _him_. You’re, like, the complete opposite of Lincoln.”

 

The complete opposite.

 

May’s words flashed through his mind “ _you’re going about this in the completely wrong way_.” Even if she wasn’t talking directly about drawing out his powers, her words triggered an idea.

 

Jesse cut off Skye’s ramblings about Lincoln by standing up and walking over to the lamp beside his bed, and turning it on.

 

“What’re you-”

 

Without answering, Jesse held the globe between his hands. Feeling its heat, he thought about how he had been approaching the task earlier that day.

 

‘ _Don’t let it out. Draw it in. Just like my memories, I need to draw this in._ ’

 

The globe heated further, before flickering and turning off completely. But its power was not gone. Jesse turned around the face Skye in wonder, as he felt the globe’s power surging through him. Skye in turn looked equally shocked, staring at Jesse in amazement.

 

“Oh my god, Jesse. You’re glowing.”

 

Looking down at his body, Jesse watched in awe as he saw himself radiating energy. Lifting his hand to in front of his eyes, he could visibly see a spark of electricity arc around it. Earlier at the S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker, he hadn’t been giving off electricity. He had been absorbing it from a nearby power source.

 

Feeling his skin heat up, Jesse turned back the globe. Raising his hand, Jesse felt the energy leave his body as electricity coursed through the air and back into the light. With the electricity left Jesse’s strength, and he felt his legs buckle as he sunk to the ground, the adrenalin of the moment wearing off.

 

But he didn’t care.

 

He had found his place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd you like it? I'm trying to differentiate Jesse/Ward's and Lincoln's power set by making Ward's the (kind of) opposite (he's basically Cole from inFamous, which I love to death). I'm also making some changes to the cannon of season 3, namely Ward dying/becoming Hive, and not being the one to kill Rosalind. I just don't see any way Coulson would let Ward live if he had killed her, so I'm going to say Malick had Giyera do it!
> 
> Ward still did all those horrible things to Bobbi and Simmons though (he can't be an angel, after all).
> 
> See ya'll next week!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As he got closer and closer to the command centre and Daisy’s quarters, the bodies started appearing. ‘At least that explains the lack of people trying to kill me’.
> 
> Like something from a horror movie, the bodies of the Hydra agents were gruesomely slashed up, some having their throats slashed, while others wearing claw marks all over their body. One particular Hydra agent still had a look of complete terror on his face from wear he lay, unblinking in death. Whoever, whatever, had done this was a monster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! So happy (and surprised) that I'm able to stick to the deadline I made for myself! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter, as things really start to pick up in pace, especially after last chapter which was much slower in pace.
> 
> Also, thought I'd put in a warning for mild descriptions of violence and gore (don't worry, it's only a bit of blood). I've bumped the rating up to M though in case.

For the first time since he had woken up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. bunker, Jesse Clayton was at peace. Sure, he was still being plagued with nightmares and visions of his past life as Ward, but at least he had answers. He knew why they were happening. And so that was why Jesse shouldn’t have been surprised when it all went to hell.

 

Hydra came in the night.

 

Jesse didn’t know how they had been found, or why no one had seen them coming. All he knew was that they were here, and everyone he cared about was in danger. Jesse had been relaxing in his room, practicing his abilities with the sources of electricity around him. While not fluent with his powers, Jesse had spent the last week and a half throwing himself into training, until he got to the point where he could safely transfer electrical charge from an appliance to his own body, and then disperse it to a desired target.

 

It was when he was using his abilities to power up the TV without leaving his bed when he heard the first sounds of gunfire. Getting up, Jesse had barely opened his door when it burst open, and agent May surged through. The woman was bleeding from a cut on her forehead, but otherwise seemed fine.

 

“W-what’s going on?”

 

“Hydra’s breached the compound. Follow me.” Before Jesse could react, May had already exited his room, disappearing down the hallway. Jesse followed, powering up from the lights in the roof as he left. Despite being apparently battle-hardened from his time in S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra, Jesse still found his heart pounding in anticipation as he followed May through the halls of the sanctuary. At first, he felt almost underwhelmed when they came into contact with Hydra agents, as May had already shot them before Jesse could even raise his hands to blast them, but as they reached the dining hall the number of intruders increased.

 

For his first time using his powers offensively, Jesse liked to think he wasn’t doing too badly. He managed to take a few Hydra agents here and there, zapping them with blasts of lightning from behind the overturned table he was using for cover. He could see at least three Alisha’s flipping around, their ginger hair lighting up the battlefield. A flaming chain whipped around, slamming into Hydra agents and sending them flying. From what Jesse knew from Joey, he assumed the owner of the whip was James.

 

All around him, the inhumans were putting up a fight against Hydra. But as more and more agents poured into the room, Jesse could only watch in horror as the people around him, his friends, slowly became overwhelmed. Every time his power source ran low, Jesse would drain some more from the lights above him, until the room began to dim in lighting. Realising his need for power was hindering the ability of everyone around him to fight back, he used the last of his power to shock one of the four enemies May was fighting at once, allowing her to take out the other three.

 

“I had that,” May yelled as she ducked back behind the cover they shared. She glanced over the top of the table, firing two shots with her gun before crouching back down.

 

“I can’t draw any more power from the room without powering down the lights permanently,” he replied, ignoring her earlier comment.

 

May almost looked like she was going to roll her eyes, before she reached to her belt and held out her second handgun. “Take this, and go find Daisy. Hydra’s primary goal will be to take her down. I assume after last time, you’ll have no trouble shooting straight.”

 

Not sure whether May just took a back-handed shot at him for his killing of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Jesse just nodded and took the gun from her hands. Glancing over to where the nearest exit was, he looked back at May. “Cover me?”

 

The woman just turned around from him and fired several more shots from behind their cover. Taking it as her signal, Jesse darted out from behind the table, sprinting across the floor to the door. Surprisingly, not one bullet came close to hitting him, meaning that May was obviously doing her job. The hallway he had darted into was empty, with apparently no one else thinking to go deeper into the compound just yet. Feeling the familiarity of a gun in his hands, most likely from his days as Ward, Jesse slowly but efficiently made his way to Daisy’s quarters. She hadn’t appeared in the dining room, so he could only assume that she was fighting off any task forces Hydra had sent directly to her in advance of the main attack. Also absent from the battle had been Skye. Jesse could only hope that she too was safe.

 

As he got closer and closer to the command centre and Daisy’s quarters, the bodies started appearing. ‘ _At least that explains the lack of people trying to kill me_ ’.

 

Like something from a horror movie, the bodies of the Hydra agents were gruesomely slashed up, some having their throats slashed, while others wearing claw marks all over their body. One particular Hydra agent still had a look of complete terror on his face from wear he lay, unblinking in death. Whoever, _whatever_ , had done this was a monster.

 

Drawing the gun up even further out in front him, Jesse slowly continued down the dark hallway. He cursed the lack of power in this wing of the sanctuary, as Hydra had most likely cut as much of the electricity as possible before their attack. After only a week with his abilities, he felt naked without them, like he was walking into the belly of the beast unarmed, even with his gun. While it was Hydra who were ripped apart by the beast, Jesse knew of no inhuman in the compound with talons, so he could not be sure it was on his side.

 

What should have been the first clue to the identity of the beast was a discarded wig on the ground. Later, Jesse would look back and curse himself for not realizing what was going on then and there. But he took almost no notice of the wig, continuing on to the command centre.

 

And that was when he heard the screams.

 

Oh, and the gunfire of course. As he approached the doors of the command centre, the sound of bullets being fired ripped through the air, accompanied by yells of terror. Holding his nerve, Jesse kicked open the door and entered the room, just in time to see the last of the Hydra soldiers have his blood spilled all over the carpet.

 

The creature in front of him _was_ a monster. As it pulled its bloodstained claws out of the open throat of the Hydra agent, more blood spilled out from the wound. Spikes, no, thorns, covered the creature from head to toe, adding to its demonic appearance. Jesse was all but ready to start shooting at it when it turned to him, and _said his name_.

 

“Jesse.”

 

And that was when Jesse noticed what the creature was wearing. Which was odd, because you would think the first thing you would notice about a monster covered in thorns and blood was that it was wearing a flower dress. Even more, the eyes of the creature were ones he’d seen before, just as expressive as ever. Unlike everything else about her, Daisy’s eyes were the same as they had been when he had looked desperately at them weeks ago, pleading for refuge from S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra alike.

 

“Y-you, you’re-”

 

“Jesse, you need to calm down for a second. I know what you’re thinking. But there’s a concise explanation for this, I promise.”

 

Jesse was too busy staring in shock at Daisy Johnson, the fabled earth shaker herself, in all her glory. She was meant to be sending enemies flying with just a thought, not tearing out their throats with her bare hands. He was so enthralled in the sight in front of him, in fact, that he didn’t notice the Hydra reinforcements come in behind them, weapons raised. Daisy bared her talons as she prepared to charge the agents, but she didn’t need to. A barely visible wave of force hit them, and all six crumpled like paper. And standing behind them, hands raised in front of her, was Skye.

 

Oh. OH.

 

And suddenly, it all made sense. The way in which Skye had never told him what her powers were. How she would always accompany Daisy on her missions. Even the argument Jesse had accidently overheard between them was now clear.

 

Skye was Quake.

 

The woman in question stared at Jesse in shock, not expecting him to be in the room with Daisy. She slowly walked towards him, hands lowered in a gesture of peace. Behind him, Daisy stood up fully before speaking.

 

“Did you get Jiaying’s ledger?”

 

Skye just held up a withered book in reply, before turning to face Jesse. “Look, I know this looks bad, but-”

 

It was Skye’s voice that finally snapped Jesse out of his shock. “It _looks_ bad?! You’ve spent the entire time you’ve known me feeding me lie after lie after lie. After all the shit with Ward, I assumed that you were done with that. What, was everyone here in on this little joke except me?! Let’s all trick the new guy into thinking the murderous porcupine is the world’s most infamous vigilante!” Whirling around, he continued yelling. “Is your name even Daisy Johnson?!”

 

To her credit, Daisy looked slightly abashed. “It’s Raina, actually.”

 

Jesse turned back to face Skye, his glare only intensifying. “So I guess that makes you Daisy, right?” At her silence, Jesse flung his arms in the air before pacing away from them. “This is crazy! What, were you just never gonna tell me? Let me get comfortable, find a home, that’s based on a complete lie?”

 

Skye, _Daisy_ , interrupted his rant. “Jesse! No one knew. Apart from Joey, Alisha and James, everyone still thinks that I’m Skye and that Raina’s Daisy. And it needs to stay that way. Raina’s a much better leader than me, and it helps in situations like this if the enemy’s confused to who target. We weren’t lying to you specifically. All of this was in place long before you arrived here.”

 

That, at least, served to quell Jesse’s anger. Except if that was. After all the lies he’s been told by her, he wasn’t sure what to trust.

 

More gunfire sounded in the distance, and Raina gathered several files into her hands. “We need to get you out of here, Daisy. Hydra’s already won, their numbers are too great. Our priority should be getting you safely back to S.H.I.E.L.D. with the ledger.”

 

“What? We can’t just abandon our people! They’re out there, fighting for us. I will not just run away and leave them to be captured or-” Skye’s protest died on her lips as Raina gasped, her eyes rolling back into her head. She stood frozen for only a second, as if shocked, before falling too her knees.

 

“Raina! What did you see?”

 

From where she sat on the ground, Raina trembled, her breathes coming out in gasps. “It’s been so long, my body’s not used to it.” She looked up to face Skye, determination in her eyes. “You need to leave, now. There’s nothing we could do for the sanctuary, but you make it out.”

 

As she stood up, Skye’s resolve for staying seemed to crumple. “O-okay. Give me those files, I’ll slip them inside the ledger. We’re going to have to be quick.”

 

How was it even possible for this day to get more confusing? “Wait, what? What the hell just happened?” The two women were already leaving the room, Skye looked back over her shoulder to talk to Jesse.

 

“Oh, yeah. Raina can see the future.”

 

‘ _Um._ ’

 

Jesse didn’t even have time to process this new bit of information, running after Skye and Raina as they began their escape from the compound. To say that Jesse had to adjust to the new status quo was an understatement. On the way to the exit, Raina ripped open about six more throats, and Skye sent at least a cumulative tonne of Hydra body weight flying with her shockwaves. In comparison, Jesse felt practically useless with his handgun and lack of power sources.

 

It wasn’t until they passed the mess hall that they stopped, taking in the scene in front of them from their hiding spot. Hydra had defeated all resistance from the inhumans, and were in the process of rounding them up into the centre of the hall. From his position, Jesse could see both Joey and May lying on the ground, unmoving. Elena was there too, screaming in Spanish as she bounced back and forth from where she was chained to the wall.

 

Skye’s eyes widened as the Hydra agent that was obviously in charge walked towards Alisha and James, who were kneeling on the ground, guns trained at their heads.

 

“That’s Marcus Scarlotti. How the hell did he get out of government custody?”

 

Scarlotti crouched down in front of Alisha, before glancing sideways at James. “Where is Quake?”

 

James cracked a smile as she chuckled. “You must be crazy if you think we’re gonna give our leading lady, buddy.” His laugh was cut off as he was backhanded by Scarlotti. The Hydra agent looked over to Alisha in question. When she just smirked at him, Jesse could see the man’s frustration grow as he stood up.

 

“Alright then. If we don’t take Quake back with us, then the lot of you aren’t much use either.” He walked over to the Hydra agent to his left. “Start with the children.”

 

Skye was already standing, preparing to hand herself over when Raina grabbed her arm. “Don’t be foolish, Daisy. You’re what this whole raid was for. If you give yourself up, then Hydra wins.”

 

“What am I meant to do? Just let them start murdering our people?!” Raina just held her clawed hand out in response, allowing Skye and Jesse to see the syringe in it.

 

“You asked me lead, Daisy. So that’s what I’ll do. Lead.” And before either of them could stop her, Raina turned the syringe on herself, jabbing it into her thorny forearm. Jesse watched in wonder as the thorns covering Raina’s body shortened in length, receding back into her body. As her skin closed over the thorns, and her claws shortened into nails, Raina pulled out a wig that Jesse had not noticed her pick up on the way here. And by Skye’s look of surprise, he was not the only one that had been fooled.

 

“You saw this, didn’t you?” Skye’s glance was accusing. “You knew that you’d have to give yourself up.”

 

As Raina put on her wig, she glanced over to Jesse. “Make sure Daisy gets back to S.H.I.E.L.D. safely. She’s the best chance they have for rescuing our people.” With that, Raina ducked into the mess hall.

 

“Don’t hurt anyone, I’ll surrender.”

 

Jesse could only here gasps of despair and cries of relief from the inhuman colony as Skye pulled him away from Raina and Hydra, and the two began their escape into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you think? Skye and Ward are headed back to S.H.I.E.L.D. for the foreseeable future, at least until they can work out a way to save the inhumans. The next chapter will be up next Sunday, Australia time!


End file.
